Out of the press box, back to being a simple fan

I had done everything else there is to do at a baseball game: manager and coach, umpire, groundskeeper, keeper of “the book,” announcer and even concession stand worker, selling hot dogs and burgers.

But never had I covered a game from the press box or attended a post game press conference. Sports Editor Ira Schoffel thought it was time the boss saw up close what he and his team do during a Florida State baseball game. Last year, he did the same with me during football season.

I thought each time was a chance to tell readers about what I saw.

First, let me say I don’t really enjoy the game from the press box. I like just being a fan much better. Sure, I got to sit next to Nolesports.com editor Corey Clark and banter with him in our live blog and during the course of the game. That was good.

This was how the teams lined up before the game. I was able to avoid the window frame but not get the whole team from the visitors side.

But I had to catch myself when I felt like jumping to my feet and applauding. That would be a BIG no no.

After 33 years of coaching on all levels, including coaching a team that went to the 13U Babe Ruth World Series, playing in college and just learning the game from the best coaches around, I’d like to think I could contribute to the conversation.

But Corey was always a step or two ahead of me, arguing (nicely) over whether the bunt was a good idea (it wasn’t), infield and outfield positioning, how long to leave a pitcher in and so on.

Our guys know the game and the players. Their insights are better than even the analysts on the TV broadcasts – that is, when there is a TV broadcast and FSU isn’t relegated to ESPN3, the Internet webcast.

It’s quiet in the press box, even with the window open to let in the sound. Sure it’s air conditioned and the seats semi-comfortable – but I had to sit on my computer bag to see the pitcher and home plate at the same time. I guess most sports writers aren’t the size of most middle schoolers. The window frames can get in the way of seeing the action.

All in all, though, no complaints. It’s a good view and a good place to work.

After the final out cliched the Regional championship, FSU players lined up to congratulate each other. This was taken with an iPhone hanging out the press box window, trying unsuccessfully to get a clear shot without the window siding.

There’s a computer screen every few people to help the writers keep track of everything. And someone would announce to the press box major changes in the lineup, scoring rulings and the like.

It is still a very male-dominated world in the press box. Our Natalie Pierre was one of very few women I saw, at least in terms of the working press. Just when you think the world is changing, it’s not.

After the game, there are only a few minutes before everyone rushes down to the Tradition Room in the stadium for the press conference. The post-game press conference is an odd duck, too.

I went to only two of the three games and stayed for the press conference for only the game against Savannah State.

The losing team shows up first. So picture this:

We’re inside a room filled with championship trophies, posters of some of FSU’s greatest players and all kinds of other symbols of one of the greatest programs in the history of college baseball, and the press files in: The big video cameras are in the back; the writers up front.

Then the head coach and one or two players from the losing side come in and sit down for questions.

Credit to Kyle McGowin, pitcher for Savannah State. The guy entered the game with a 12-1 record and an era of 1.33. In 115 innings, he had given up 27 runs, 17 earned. He is being talked about as a high draft choice by Major League Baseball.

And then boom. FSU slaps 10 runs on him, all earned, in the first three innings. Frankly, I thought he lost his cool a little with some close calls at the plate and-or the ability of the FSU hitters to take close pitches with two strikes, then get the one they liked and blister it.

But after the game, he was all class and dignity, saying all the right things and taking responsibility for the loss, saying he didn’t have command of his fastball, which he rarely used as a result. Then when he did use it, it was as I said: boom.

The tough questions weren’t just for the losing side. When Head Coach Mike Martin and his players came in, there were questions about catcher Stephen McGee’s sore hand that was whacked on an errant swing during the game. Of course, McGee later squared up one of his own, hitting a homerun and swinging like he was pain free.

From the press conference, the writers rush back to the press room, filing their web updates, stories, posting to social media and coordinating with the teams back at the office to decide what will play where with which photos and so on.

I was fascinated watching the reaction of the out-of-town media to the FSU crowd. Rowdy, knowledgeable but ever respectful of a job well done by an opponent, cheering a diving catch, standing to applaud a pitcher and always cheering hard for their Noles. Most don’t fully get the singing of O Canada in the bottom of the fifth inning, but a lot of locals wonder about that, too.

And finally, I had a good seat to watch Athletic Director Randy Spetman intervene when a few rowdy Savannah State fans tried to take on the Animals in the FSU crowd – that’s their nickname, not a characterization of behavior, although ….

Anyway, the Desert Storm veteran of 28 years in the Air Force was all the security needed and it looked for a while all that would get there.

Well done, colonel.

And now that I’m out of the press box, excuse me purists, but let’s go Noles. On to Omaha.

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You can send comments by clicking on Bob Gabordi’s blog on Tallahassee.com or Move.Tallahassee.com, e-mailing him at bgabordi@tallahassee.com, sending a private message on Tallahassee.com and Twitter @bgabordi. You can also find links to his blogs on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. His mailing address is Bob Gabordi, Executive Editor, Tallahassee Democrat, P.O. Box 990, Tallahassee, FL 32302. His telephone number is 850-599-2177.